Fight Smart
by TheSilverboar
Summary: Fight smarter, not harder. The motto of Ash Ketchum as he plans and strategizes his way to victory through the Kanto League and beyond. Never underestimate a trainer who can plan as well as improvise. (Pairing undecided)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Great news everybody! My copyright finally went through so this mega update is to celebrate! My short story is called 'The Stranger' and you can find it on amazon. There will be a link to it on the Facebook page for my stories. I want to thank everyone for supporting as I write and for anyone who ends up getting my story. This is hopefully the latest step to becoming a full-time writer.**

 **AN2: In this I'm making Pikachu less of a brat in the beginning so he's going to give Ash a chance. He won't be instant best friends but also won't be trying to commit electric murder on everyone that isn't a Pokémon.**

Fight Smart

Chapter one

-Ash-

"And finally, Ash," Samuel Oak, regional professor of Kanto smiled at him as he stepped forward to pick up the remaining Pokéball on a table, the other trainers having just gotten their Pokémon "be sure to choose carefully." The old man quipped.

"Ha ha," he rolled his eyes and looked at his new starter, behind him Gary, Leaf, and Damian having already let out their starters and were observing them "at least you can be safe in the knowledge that you can try stand up if being a professor falls through."

"Comforting." The professor snorted dryly, "But be careful Ash, you've got a prideful one there. If he doesn't think you're a good enough trainer he might leave you."

"So, the twit'll lose his Pokémon within a week." Damian cackled, the pompous prick sharing a great deal of Gary's poorer characteristics without any of Gary's talent or empathy.

"Damian, Ash is an idiot but even he could kick your ass if you don't shut it." Gary snorted, the younger Oak's new Squirtle cackling as Damian's Charmander frowned and tried to stand away from its trainer.

"Ugh, boys." Leaf sighed, her Bulbasaur nodding in agreement.

"So, Ash," Gary grinned, shoving Damian aside as the fool squawked in protest "you up for a little battle? Gotta start my winning streak somewhere right?"

"I need to get heading to Viridian actually Pine tree." Ash smirked at the twitch in Gary's eye, having found the younger Oak hated being called by random tree names "There's a tournament there that I want to sign up for before all the spots get filled up."

"I didn't know there was a tournament soon." The professor frowned in confusion.

"It isn't for a little over a month, but the spots are limited, and first place has a cash prize, a full set of evolution stones, and an egg from one of the local gym leaders Pokémon." Ash grinned widely "If I get signed up I can focus on catching and training a team for the tournament before working on the gym circuit."

"Not a bad idea Ashy boy," Gary grinned, a competitive fire burning in his rival's eyes "I'll give you and Leaf a lift to Viridian and we can sign up. I'll need _someone_ good to battle to make my win feel earned after all."

"What about me?!" Damian scowled, having picked up how Gary hadn't offered to give the trainer of Charmander a ride.

"You can walk, your skinny ass could use the exercise." Gary brushed off the glare, as the professor tried hard not to laugh at the conversation.

"Come on boys, you two can have your little measuring contest later." Leaf grabbed his and Gary's wrists, "If we have a tournament to sign up for then we'd better go."

"Works for me." He grinned, the trio leaving Damian behind as they ran out to where Gary's car was waiting, he and Leaf having put their foot down at Gary wanting to bring a squad of Cheerleaders with him on his journey. His mom was waiting for them at the car, smiling fondly as she made sure to give them each a hug, a basket of food prepared for them.

"Be careful you three," Delia Ketchum told them fondly "be safe, and listen to Leaf."

"Oh, come on mom, you always tell us to listen to Leaf." He groaned, Gary trying, and failing, to not sulk.

"She's the smart one." His mom teased.

"I take offense to that." Gary grumbled, yelping when Delia Ketchum started tugging his cheek.

"You're so adorable when you get offended." Delia teased as Ash and Leaf laughed at their fellow trainer's misfortune.

"You gonna come cheer us on at the tournament?" Ash asked his mother, having told her about his plans when he first heard about the competition being set up.

"Of course!" his mom gave a gasp of mock offense "Perish the thought of me missing Leaf wipe the floor with you boys."

"Oi!" he and Gary exclaimed in tandem, offended at that while Leaf just gave his mom a high five.

"Well you three be safe, call regularly, and all of you be sure to change your underwear." This time all three of them were mortified together at the comment from the woman who treated them all as her children.

"Yes ma'am." It scared Ash sometimes how in sink they were with that response whenever his mom gave the reminder.

"Alright guys hop in on." Gary jumped the frame into the driver seat of the convertible, revving the engine dramatically.

"Careful Gare-Bear, your compensation is showing." He grinned, taking the backseat as Leaf grabbed shotgun.

"Just don't stink up the seats Ashy-boy."

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty. Can we go now?" Leaf asked, nodding in eagerness at the thought of hitting the road.

"As the good lady commands!" Gary laughed and hit the gas, the little town of pallet soon fading into the dust behind them as Damian could be seen finally getting close to the exit of town. Halfway to Viridian Gary pulled the car off to the side of the road so they could stop for lunch and let their starters stretch out.

"So, Ash, what Pokémon _did_ you get?" Leaf asked him as they started dividing out the ambrosia and nectar that was his mothers' cooking.

"Don't know," he frowned at that before pulling out the Pokéball "but let's find out. Come on buddy!" with a flash of light the Pokéball opened and the energy released formed into a small yellow creature.

"Pika." The small electric Pokémon stared Ash down, recognizing the Pokéball and silently judging both Ash and the item in question.

"Hey there little guy, name's Ash." He offered the starter half of his sandwich and the mouse Pokémon seemed a little happier at that as they both munched away. "So, the old man said you were a proud one." The Pikachu just smirked around his sandwich "At least things won't be boring." A thought struck him as he smirked up at Gary "And my starter has advantage over yours and Damian's if he ever gets it to evolve into a Charizard."

"Shut it Ketchup boy." Gary scowled, throwing a condiment packet at him while trying to ignore Leaf's snickering. Catching the ketchup packet Ash noticed Pikachu's eyes following the condiment hungrily so he tossed it to the Pokémon who let out a happy cry and tore into the tomato treat.

"Well that's helpful." Leaf rolled her eyes but put aside the rest of the ketchup, so they could bribe the small yellow Pokémon if he ever got attitude.

"Just like how Bulbasaur likes your chips." Ash asked, pointing to Leaf's plate where her pile of chips had been stolen by the small grass starter who tried to look innocent despite the crumbs covering its face.

"Why you little!" Leaf started to chase Bulbasaur around the clearing as he and Gary laughed.

"At least Squirtle doesn't have a problem like that." Gary smirked, taking a smug pose for a second before sighing, "He's doing something like that right behind me, isn't he?"

"Let's just say you need a new soda." He grinned as Squirtle wiggled on its shell and drained Gary's drink.

"Keep laughing Ashy-Boy, I'll kick your ass in the tournament." Gary opened a new drink and made sure to keep an eye on his starter to protect that one.

"Care for a little wager?" Ash asked his friends and rivals as Leaf rejoined them, a smirking Bulbasaur flopping beside her.

"What are the stakes?" Gary asked.

"And the rules?" Leaf added.

"Whoever makes it the farthest in the tournament is the winner." Ash explained "And they get one thing they can demand from both losers, within reason, for winning. A veto can be done but both losers have to agree it's not reasonable."

"You've got yourself a deal Ashy-Boy," Gary grinned "and I have two months to think of what to make you do."

"In your dreams, you both know I'll win." Leaf tossed her hair back with a smirk.

"I think Pikachu and I will have to disagree." The three of them held an intense stare off for only moments before it became too much, and they burst out laughing, the rest of their lunch spent relaxing and joking.

 **AN: A bit of a slow start but it's to set up Ash's personality and relationship with Gary and Leaf. He's not going to do any gyms till after that tournament, so it will be mostly training and catching a team before then. Any suggestions are welcome for what he catches but they have to be something you CAN catch in Kanto or Johto in any of the games.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I still haven't thought of any pairings for this story, so I'm open to suggestions. My rules are 1. I plan to do solo pairings for the characters so no harem. And 2. No slash. Please put who you want in a review as well as why.**

 **AN2: To the person talking about having Gary lose the tournament and cross dress as well as lose his car. Not just no, but hell no. I mean seriously? I've told people several times I don't write the cross-dressing thing. Also, why would people who are actually friends do that to each other? Friendly ribbing and pranks are one thing but public humiliation and taking a very expensive person item? That's way beyond the pale.**

Fight Smart

Chapter 2

-Ash-

"Hnnnnn!" Leaf groaned as she stretched, Gary having just parked his car outside the Viridian City Pokémon Center, "Man it feels good to stand up."

"I'll say." Ash agreed, stepping up beside his best female friend while Gary walked over to her other side, "Gary, how are you going to use that car and actually catch Pokémon?"

"I'm not going to drive everywhere Ashy-boy." Gary scoffed, rolling his eyes as Leaf threw her arms around their shoulders while they walked inside, "I'm going to drive from city to city and keep it in a parking garage. I'll walk to different villages outside the city and the other areas with Pokémon so I can focus on where I'm catching and battling."

"At least you're not one of those lazy people who just take a flying type from city to city." Leaf snorted, pulling Ash and Gary along with her as she eagerly walked to the desk."

"Or teleport." Ash added, having always thought it stupid when people did that as they were missing out on a lot of what made a journey fun, actually _journeying_!

"Hello dears, can I help you?" Nurse Joy asked as they got to the front desk, "Do your Pokémon need treatment?"

"Not treatment, we haven't had any battles yet." Ash shook his head, "We actually wanted to sign up for the Viridian Grand Tourney that's coming up."

"Ah, you're in luck, we have five slots left." Nurse Joy smiled and took their Pokedexes, "I can't wait to see how it goes."

"How come I've never heard of it happening before?" Ash asked, having only found out about it recently on trainer forums.

"Well this is the first year it's taken place." Nurse Joy smiled, "Our local Gym Leader, Giovanni Razzo, came up with the idea to help draw a crowd to Viridian so he's going to have two tourneys, the one you three are entering which is for those with less than a year's experience as a trainer and another six months' later for those with a year or more. If it does well these will be yearly events."

"Do we get to know the rules?" Ash asked as he took back his pokedex, Leaf and Gary getting theirs a moment later as the Nurse finished registering them.

"Here," Nurse Joy handed them each a pamphlet, "this covers all the rules as well as how the tournament is broken down."

"Thanks!" the three longtime friends called out as one, moving to the couches to look over the tournament info with their starters who were just as curious.

"Huh," Ash blinked at the first line that caught his eye, "it's a double's tournament."

"Partners will be assigned via random selection on the morning of the opening ceremony." Leaf read out "The opening ceremony will take place as Gym leader Giovanni will preside over the ceremony and introduce various Pokémon Masters invited for the event."

"There will be ninety-six trainers allowed to enter." Gary picked up, "The first round will take place three days after the opening ceremony and will involve each partner group battling twice from a small pool of three pairs. The pair who wins the most will go on to the next round, in the case of a tie, the invited masters will determine who is to proceed."

"Seven rounds, each one increasing the amount of Pokémon used by each side until all parties have six Pokémon each as of the semi-finals." Ash took his turn, "The Award ceremony will take place after the final round where the reward will be a cash prize of fifty thousand poke, a full set of evolutionary stones, and an egg from one of Gym Leader Giovanni Razo's Pokémon."

"This is going to be awesome." Gary grinned, "I can already hear the crowd cheering my name. Gary! Gary! Gary! You're so amazing!" Gary did a dramatic whisper yell, pretending to be showered with adulation.

"Well I suppose it's nice to dream, just be careful it doesn't hurt to much when you hit reality." Leaf stuck her tongue out at Gary who let out an overdramatic 'oof', clutching his chest like he had been wounded. "Still though, I think it'll be awesome getting to battle you guys, but I want this to be a real challenge. If we travel together, then we'll know each other's moves, strategies, and team."

"You're right." Ash frowned, having planned to travel with his friends from the start and hadn't considered the point Leaf just made.

"So we'll just travel by ourselves till the tournament." Gary didn't miss a beat as he shrugged, "We travel on our own, catch our teams, meet back for the tournament, and once I win we all travel together."

"Delusions of grandeur aside-" Ash nodded thoughtfully, ignoring Gary's indignant protests, "Gare-Bear makes a good point. It'll let us get our feet wet and hit the ground running. Plus we can share whatever tricks we've picked up once we travel together."

"That's a promise then." Leaf grabbed their hands, "We'll kick this tournament's ass then travel the region together."

"Believe it!" Ash grinned, laughing happily as Leaf hugged him and Gary tightly.

"First though, I want a battle." Gary looked eager, "Three-way starter brawl."

"Um…Gary, Squirtle's great and all but you'll have a disadvantage against both of us, and Ash will have one against me as well." Leaf smirked, "You sure you want to set yourself for failure already?"

"Come on Leaf, you know how we are." Ash grinned, holding his hand out fir a fist bump from Gary, "We fight smarter, not harder."

"Or I do at least, Ash just has to hope he gets lucky." Gary quipped but returned the fist bump anyway. Laughing, the trio walked outside looking for a place they could have their battle.

"Help!" a voice screamed from down the street, the voice ringing with fear. Not pausing for a moment, Ash took off running, Gary and Leaf right behind him. Rounding a corner, they saw a group of men and women in black clothes adorned with a red letter 'R' harassing a group of people, the criminal's Pokémon letting out what looked like sleep powder and stun spore.

"Squirtle, water gun the ground!" Gary ordered pointing to where he wanted, his confused starter obeying even if it clearly didn't know why. The pressurized jet of water hit the stone ground and shot into the air, coming down in a parody of rain, washing the powders and spores out of the air.

"Mudkip, rock throw on those brats!" one of the rockets ordered angrily, pointing at Ash and his friends.

"Bulbasaur, use vine whip to grab it and swing it back around!" Leaf ordered, her starter reacting to her order as its vines wrapped around the speeding rock, the little grass type spinning and throwing it back with greater force thanks to the added momentum as it slammed into the Mudkip, sending the water type flying back into its trainer.

Seeing the people who were being mugged running away and out of the line of fire, Ash shouted out "Gary, have Squirtle soak em!"

"You heard him Squirtle!" Gary pointed at the Rockets as Squirtle directed his water gun, soaking every Rocket and their Pokémon.

"Was that supposed to do something brat?" the lead rocket spat out a mouthful of water, none of the group looking hurt by the attack.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash grinned as his own starter let loose with a blast of lightning, blasting the criminals who, due to being soaked to the bone, took far more damage from the attack, Garry helping by having Squirtle resume its makeshift rain. Eventually, Pikachu's lightning puttered out as the criminals and their Pokémon all lay twitching on the ground.

"Wrap them up buddy!" Leaf grinned as her Bulbasaur tied the group up with a vine whip. In the distance, Ash could hear the sound of sirens approaching, and the closer sound of footsteps running towards them, the latter being revealed a moment later as a man with short hair and an expensive looking suit, a shiny Persian at his side. The man looked surprised at seeing the trio of rookies standing by the group of captured and twitching Rockets.

"Well, this is a surprise." The man said, studying them appraisingly.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey everybody! I've decided Ash's starting team for the story (he's going to catch five and train them to focus on the tournament and won't catch more till afterwards) but each one will be a surprise as they come. I also have two candidates for pairing for Ash (Gary and Leaf are going to be a thing). One pairing option is Marnie from Galar, the other is Zinnia from Hoenn. I'm willing to listen to other suggestions but those are the two that are the current leaders.**

Fight Smart

Chapter 3

-Ash-

"A surprise sir?" Ash asked confused, wondering who this man was.

"Yes, it's not often that you see civilian trainers take out rocket cohorts." The man approached them calmly while the Persian kept a watchful eye on the tied-up rockets, "Especially rookie trainers if your Pokémon are an estimate."

"Freeze! Nobody mo-" the sirens turned into a screaming pitch as cop cars pulled up on each end of the alley, officer Jennies jumping out before freezing when they saw the man that Ash and his friends were talking to "Mr. Razzo sir! I see you captured the rocket band."

"It was these three actually." The now identified Gym leader shook his head, gesturing to Ash and his friends as they gaped at the man turning out to be the strongest Gym leader in the region.

"Sir, this isn't the time for jokes. There's no way three rookies took out a band of rockets." One of the officers scoffed.

"We fight smarter rather than harder." Gary glared at the bluenette.

"Be quite kid, the adults are talking." The cop shot Gary a look only to be slapped hard in the back of the head by her partner.

"As I said, these trainers captured the rockets, I arrived shortly thereafter." The Gym leader looked irritated at the officer calling his word into question.

"Meaning you didn't see them do anything." The first cop wouldn't let the issue go though, "I'll need to get witness statements from the victims." Ash looked over in the direction the victims had run away and saw nobody.

"This is going to suck." Leaf slumped over as he and Gary pat her back sympathetically, all of them knowing that this was indeed going to 'suck'.

-Giovanni-

Rubbing his temples, Giovanni sat down at his desk, Ariana standing there and waiting for his orders, "Ariana, there's a Jenny stationed here in the city who caused me a great deal of annoyance today."

"I'll take care of it." Ariana nodded instantly, "May I ask how?"

"I was heading to deal with the initiate washouts." He scoffed as he poured a pair of drinks from his liquor cabinet, "They weren't rocket material but capturing criminals in the uniform looks good for PR which would help the Gym front. Before I could get there though, three rookie trainers took them out."

"Rookies?" Ariana looked surprised as she took the drink he offered, "Even if they were washouts our grunts should have been able to handle novices. How long were these people trainers?"

"Since this morning." Giovanni snorted, not sure whether to be more impressed with their talent or more disgusted with the fools who had sullied his uniform, "They knew they didn't have the raw power to take out the grunts head on so they fought smart and used some clever tactics to win. I want them watched though, they already know how to work like a team and show promise, so I doubt we they'll drop out of the league challenge." Meaning the typical recruitment avenue was out, and they seemed to morally white to seek him out to join.

"Should I eliminate sir?" Ariana sipped her drink, unphased at the thought of 'removing' young trainers.

"No, not yet." Giovanni shook his head, "They could be of…use to me yet." Leaning his head back he finished his glass and poured another one "For one they're entering the rookie tournament. If they're talented enough to sweep that or the league they could cause several to give up on the challenge and be ripe for poaching. Not to mention it would be mildly amusing to send our washouts to try and apprehend them and let them deal with the fools. The more talented trainers tend to leave the region anyway if they don't try to become League members so they could soon be someone else's problem. Stick to observation for now."

"Understood sir, it will be done." Ariana saluted him as she finished her drink and turned to depart, she still had to take care of that irritate officer Jenny after all.

-Ash-

Frowning, Ash continued to wander through the Viridian forest. He'd been in here for over a day already and had yet to run into any Pokémon that caught his eye, or trainers that could give Pikachu a challenge. "How much longer you wanna try this buddy?" he looked over at Pikachu who was walking beside him, sucking the ketchup from a small packet "I'd say give it till lunch before heading on to Pewter if we haven't found a new team member."

"Pika!" his starter nodded, finishing the packet before jumping up onto Ash's shoulder. Periodically a bug or flying type would attack them but they were always weak enough for Pikachu to take out with a few quick thunderbolts.

"At least you're getting to practice your moves." Ash snorted, looking for the silver lining as he walked past the knocked-out group of spearows.

"Chuuuuu." Pikachu groaned, sounding bored and hungry, a sentiment that Ash shared.

"Yeah," he sighed, "let's just get some lunch and start heading to Pewter." Pulling out his flint, he began making a fire to cook while Pikachu kept watch, trusting the little moues to watch his back. The meal was almost done when he heard rustling in the bushes, his head snapping over to it along with Pikachu's.

"Smeargle?" the new Pokémon entered the clearing, sniffing and following its nose as it did so.

"A Johto Pokémon?" Ash blinked surprised at seeing the iconic painting Pokémon from Johto, his pokedex scanning and confirming it was wild.

"Pika!" his started leapt forward, sparking his cheeks in challenge to the Smeargle who gripped its tail, eyes narrowed.

"Well, I'd say we found our first partner!" Ash grinned, "Start off with thunder shock!" he ordered, Pikachu leaping up and launching the weak electrical attack towards the normal type who leapt away while its eyes glowed. A moment later, it sent out its own thunder shock towards them.

"Quick attack to dodge!" Ash ordered, his grin growing wider at the thought of having this Pokémon on his team.

"Pika!" his starter complied, shooting all over the clearing as Smeargle tried to keep up.

"Hit him from behind!" Ash ordered as Pikachu rammed into the Smeargle as it kept looking for his starter, "Now thunder shock!" with Pikachu latched on to the normal type there was no way for Smeargle to dodge the attack.

"Gle!" Smeargle scowled and pointed its tail at Pikachu before releasing a cloud of purple spores.

"Damnit, poison powder! Alright Pikachu, we gotta wrap this up." Ash frowned as he tried to think of what to do, "I got it! Use Agility before moving to quick attack and then firing a thunderbolt as you hit Smeargle!"

"PIKA! PIKA! PIKA! PIKA!" Pikachu get shooting around, building up speed and dodging thunder shocks from their opponent, trying to work through the poison. Pikachu was eventually a blur of white to his eyes before there was a bright flash of yellow as his starter struck Smeargle, sending the normal type flying into a tree, the crackles of electricity around the mon showing it was paralyzed.

Not wasting a chance, he took out a pokeball and threw it, the device striking the downed mon and shaking slowly before clicking to signify capture. "Yes!" Ash cheered, rushing over to Pikachu who collapsed to the ground, "Hold on buddy, I got ya." Pulling out an antidote and some potions, Ash treated his starter who was now just tired and hungry rather than injured. "Let's let out our new teammate." He nodded to Pikachu to stand ready in case the Smeargle was angry and tossed the ball, letting out the painter Pokémon before approaching with potions, a paralyze heal, and food.

"Hey there," he grinned softly, "my name's Ash and I guess we're partners now. If you hold still I can treat that paralysis." He raised the bottles as the Smeargle warily let him do so, looking surprised that it actually work and then stunned when Ash gave him some food. "Like I said, we're partners." He ruffled Smeargle's head, "And I'm going to look out for both of you."

 **AN: So yeah, the team so far is Pikachu and Smeargle. Pikachu's specialness is apparent given the anime, for he is the mighty mouse wielding the thunderbolts of Zeus. Smeargle I decided to go with because of the move sketch. If it could be used more than once (which I think was just a game limiting mechanic) then they could learn ANY move so long as they see it. It's like the Sharingan! So yeah, Ash will have the ultimate move diversity with Smeargle.**


End file.
